VC watch: Entrisphere grabs $33 million

Which companies will be the trendsetters of the future? The following list is the latest news from start-ups here and abroad that have received venture funding.

Has your company just completed a round of financing or received other venture capital support? E-mail the editors at CNET News.com.

Recent Deals

 Telecommunications vendor Entrisphere has raised $33 million in a second round of funding, bringing its total funding to $55 million, the company announced this week. Participating in the round were new investors Capital Technologies CDPQ, Crosspoint Venture Partners, Duff Ackerman and Goodrich, and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board, as well as previous investors Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based Entrisphere also announced that Mark Floyd is the company's new president and chief executive. Floyd was co-founder of Efficient Networks and was recently an entrepreneur-in-residence at Crosspoint Venture Partners. Entrisphere is a telecom vendor that allows service providers to offer advanced data services without disrupting their existing infrastructure.

 Voice application company Broadsoft has raised $32.5 million in a third round of funding led by Grotech Capital and RRE Ventures, the company announced Monday. Also participating in the round were Tekelec, Bessemer Venture Partners, Charles River Ventures, Columbia Capital and Crescendo Ventures.

Broadsoft, which has raised a total of $60 million, plans to use the money to expand sales. The Gaithersburg, Md.-based company provides telephony services such as call forwarding, simultaneous ringing and unified messaging.

 Chipmaker Zeevo has raised $20 million in a fourth round of funding led by WK Technology Fund, Zeevo announced Monday. Also participating were previous investors Sequoia Capital, Raza Venture Fund and Focus Ventures. Zeevo specializes in chips for Bluetooth, a short-range wireless technology. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, which has raised a total of $65.9 million, will use the money to increase production and expand sales and marketing efforts.

Banter on Monday announced that it received an $18 million fourth round of funding led by Financial Technology Ventures. Other investors included Mayfield, RBC Technology Ventures and Lucent Venture Partners. The San Francisco-based company has now raised more than $50 million. Banter develops software designed to help companies automatically manage their customers' e-mail and information filled out on Web site forms.

SeeCommerce raised $14 million in a sixth round of funding and added Voyager Capital, one of its investors, to its board of directors, Voyager announced Monday. The investor contributed $3 million to the latest round. Sierra Ventures led the round, with Focus Ventures and Integral Capital Partners also contributing. SeeCommerce, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has now raised a total of $81 million. The company develops software applications to help companies manage their supply chain.

 Digital music company Gracenote has raised $9.5 million in a third round of funding led by Sequoia Capital, the company announced Monday. Berkeley, Calif.-based Gracenote plans to use the money for working capital and development.
Gracenote declined to disclose the amounts raised in earlier rounds. The company provides digital music software, specializing in applications that recognize songs listed on CDs, displaying their titles, album art, reviews, music news, biographies and tour information.

iConverse announced Monday that it closed a $6 million third round of funding. Previous investors Advanced Technology Ventures and Prism Venture Partners led the round. iConverse, based in Waltham, Mass., has now raised a total of $30 million. The company develops middleware applications that allow companies to connect corporate data with their mobile channel.